Artists give round of applause to Tamworth's creative communities plan

The biggest of the three is the Tamworth Region Creative Communities Plan 2024-29 which outlines the city's arts and culture aspirations for the next five years.

Former president of the Tamworth Dramatic Society Daniel Gillett - who is running for council in September - praised the new plan at council's most recent meeting.

"Not every council in NSW has a creative and cultural plan anymore, and it's really refreshing to see that this council has the opportunity to renew interest in that space," Mr Gillett said.

Mr Gillett emphasised the importance of storytelling in creating a dynamic and inclusive community which will help both tourism and long-term economic growth.

"We're not known as the City of Light because we had the first electric street lighting, all of those lights are gone. It's only that we continue to tell those stories that Tamworth is so renowned among other cities in regional NSW," he said.

"This plan creates opportunities to attract new people to Tamworth ... We're going to attract people who are desperately needed to fill jobs. We're going to attract people who want to come here, be part of our community, and work hard to make our community better."

The creative communities plan is informed in part by a series of community workshops across the region hosted by the region's peak creative body Arts North West.

The arts organisation held 13 face-to-face workshops in Manilla, Barraba, Nundle, Kootingal, and Tamworth.

For comparison, Tamworth Regional Council (TRC) hosted six in-person and two online information sessions when undertaking community consultation for its recently-approved 36.3 per cent Special Rate Variation.

The creative communities plan lists 62 actions TRC will take over the next five years, ranging from developing existing heritage and food festivals, to improving services at regional libraries, to supporting the establishment of a First Nations Cultural Centre or "Keeping Place".

Councillor Marc Sutherland, who chairs TRC's arts advisory committee, said he's encouraged to see support for both the plan and for looking into "what an Aboriginal cultural centre would look like here in town".

"This plan is a strong investment in community, it's a strong investment in culture," councillor Marc Sutherland said.

"People move to communities because of the sense of belonging, because of the identity people feel connects them to a place. This creative plan allows for that to happen by making sure we are in a position to be able to invest in our community as much as we can."

Alongside the creative communities plan, TRC also voted through a new public art strategy which received 15 comments during its time on public exhibition last month.

Many of the comments made on the public art strategy were positive, particularly regarding support for local artists and encouraging travelling exhibitions like last year's Skywhales event.

"The Public Art Strategy looks to me to be a practical outline for public art moving forward, that gives space for local as well as external artworks," one submission said.

"I think it is extremely important that we consider local artists first," said another.

However, not all responses were positive.

"I want cheaper rates NOT art. Residents need to be able to live," a resident said in their submission.

Speaking of public exhibitions, TRC also voted to put a new museum and archive strategy out on display.

The museum strategy is designed to standardise and consolidate the work of Tamworth's 10 biggest museums, some of which are council-owned while others are run by volunteer organisations and independent bodies.

Councillor Helen Tickle said the strategy would help each museum maintain its unique collections by focusing TRC's support for items that preserve the region's heritage.

"When we've had workshops on this we've acknowledged we have so much 'stuff' that we need to start culling. We can't expect every single item that's donated to be kept," Cr Tickle said.

"No one wants to see anything thrown out which has historical significance, however we don't need 10 of the same thing."

If adopted, the 10 museums the new strategy will apply to include:

The Tamworth Region Museum and Archive Strategy is on public exhibition until Wednesday, August 7, and will return to councillors for final approval after responses have been collected.